Browsing by Author "Kumar, M. Dinesh"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Thumbnail Image
    PublicationArticle
    Can India raise agricultural productivity while reducing groundwater and energy use?
    (2013) Kumar, M. Dinesh; Scott, Christopher A.; Singh, O.P.
    This paper provides empirical evidence that power tariff reform with pro rata pricing and higher unit rates for electricity not only would promote equity, efficiency and sustainability in groundwater use, but also would be socio-economically viable for small-holder farmers. It shows that the arguments of "high transaction cost" and "political infeasibility" used against metering are valid only in specific regional contexts and under increasingly outmoded power-pricing and agricultural-production regimes, if one considers the recent advancements in remote sensing and the facts that overexploited regions have a low density of wells and are mostly owned by farmers who constitute a small segment of the farming community. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.
  • Thumbnail Image
    PublicationArticle
    Have diesel price hikes actually led to farmer distress in India?
    (2010) Kumar, M. Dinesh; Singh, O.P.; Sivamohan, M.V.K.
    The current study shows that the recent diesel price hike had an insignificant impact on irrigation costs incurred by diesel well owners in eastern India. Further, analysis of the farming enterprises of diesel well owners and water buyers from both diesel and electric wells confronted with a differential cost of irrigation water showed that farmers would be able to cope with a very high rise in irrigation costs through irrigation efficiency improvements and allocating more area to crops that give higher returns per unit of land and water. By doing this, they are able to maintain the farm returns. © 2010 International Water Resources Association.
  • Thumbnail Image
    PublicationArticle
    Inducing the shift from flat-rate or free agricultural power to metered supply: Implications for groundwater depletion and power sector viability in India
    (2011) Kumar, M. Dinesh; Scott, Christopher A.; Singh, O.P.
    India's farm sector sustains livelihoods for hundreds of millions of rural people, but faces serious management challenges for land, water, and energy resources. Growing dependence on groundwater threatens water resources sustainability and power sector viability. Sustaining India's rising prosperity rests on managing groundwater. This study shows that raising power tariffs in the farm sector to achieve efficiency and sustainability of groundwater use is both socially and economically viable. The question is about how to introduce this shift. This paper discusses five different options for power supply, metering and energy pricing in the farm sector and the expected outcomes of implementing each vis-a-vis efficiency of groundwater and energy use, equity in access and sustainability of groundwater. It concludes that establishing an energy quota for each farm-based on sustainability considerations, and metering and charging pro rata for power used are the best options to manage groundwater and the energy economy. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.
  • Thumbnail Image
    PublicationArticle
    Rethinking on the methodology for assessing global water and food challenges
    (Routledge, 2020) Kumar, M. Dinesh; Bassi, Nitin; Singh, O.P.
    The article delinks food security challenges from the challenge of supplying water to meet the needs of the industrial, livestock, domestic and environmental sectors to analyze the food security and water management challenges of individual nations. For this, three indices are developed: the water adequacy index, water-land index and water-land-pasture index. Their values are computed for 172 countries. The analysis suggests that the criteria for assessing the magnitude of food insecurity and water scarcity problems should include agricultural land, particularly cultivated land and pastureland, along with renewable water. © 2020, © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.